Blue Jays still working to get better this winter according to Team President Shapiro

The Toronto Blue Jays have already had a busy offseason but so has the rest of the AL East. Outside of the New York Yankees, everyone has been making moves to better themselves ahead of 2026 and according to the team's president and and CEO, Mark Shapiro, it doesn't look like the Blue Jays are done yet.

In an interview with MLB Network Radio, Shapiro acknowledge that the Blue Jays need to do what they can to keep getting better, while the rest of the division continues to add.

Blue Jays still working to get better this winter according to Team President Shapiro

"My philosophy on free agents is that there is no such thing as close. You're either done or you're not done and there is nothing in between and we're still working to get better," said Shapiro. The Blue Jays have already added Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce, Tyler Rogers and several minor league players who could become valuable bullpen depth in 2026.

While those adds have certainly given the Blue Jays a better starting point with their pitching than what they had going into 2025, Shapiro also admits that you can never feel to comfortable within the AL East. "Our division is an absolute beast. The one thing that's been clear to me in over 30 years of being in the game is that there is nothing like the AL East," he said.

"We already knew Baltimore was going to be better than they were last year, you look at their second half and they clearly got better with Taylor Ward and Shane Baz, they've had a good offseason and I don't think they are done," said Shapiro. They also added Pete Alonso to give the Orioles an explosive power combo in the middle of the lineup along with Ward. They signed Ryan Helsley, a relief pitcher who the Blue Jays were linked to, to shore up the back of their bullpen as well.

Shapiro went on to say that he doesn't expect the Yankees to be quiet all offseason, while Tampa Bay is "never bad" and that Boston is "positioned better than any other team in baseball to have success over the next five years, as they are stocked with young talent." The Red Sox raised their competitive floor significantly via the trade market by acquiring Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo and Willson Contreras.

"The bottom line is we need to get better," were the final words from Shapiro, which is a strong statement from an executive of a team that was in the World Series last year. If there was any indication that the Blue Jays brass was satisfied to just be in the conversation with the LA Dodgers of the world, that notion is completely thrown out the window. Shapiro means business and it's up to GM Ross Atkins to execute that offseason game plan.

Yes, Atkins has done a tremendous job of making sure that pitching staff is loaded up front and has plenty of depth options at their disposal, but they have yet to make any significant additions to their lineup and on paper right now, it's difficult to justify the lineup being better than it was a year ago with Bo Bichette still unsigned. Maybe a healthy Anthony Santander completely replaces Bo's production and a full season of Addison Barger and a productive Andrés Giménez negates the need to add another infielder.

But if the boss is saying "we are not done" then Blue Jays fans should be anticipating at least one more move before it's all said and done. Much has been made this offseason of the Blue Jays now being a desirable place to play as Cease, Ponce and Rogers all mentioned that in their introductory press conference. We'll see if another big free agent comes to that conclusio as well before the 2026 campaign begins.