Jeff Passan absolutely lays into Blue Jays for “unmitigated disaster” offseason

Without needing to explain much, one should already know that the Toronto Blue Jays have had an underwhelming 2024-25 offseason to date. With many having high expectations that the Jays would make massive moves this winter to get themselves right back into the competition for the upcoming season, they have certainly come up quite short as of this moment. 

But if Jays fans everywhere for any reason haven’t been paying much attention to it, MLB insider Jeff Passan made sure that Toronto’s lackluster showing so far this offseason didn’t go unnoticed. In his recent ESPN piece where Passan took a look at the winning and losing teams in terms of their offseason performance to date, there was no doubt which category the Jays fell into. But more importantly, he had three words to summarize the whole current situation for Toronto: “an unmitigated disaster”.

“An unmitigated disaster” as Jeff Passan absolutely lays into Blue Jays for another lackluster offseason showing 

One doesn’t have to search far to come to that conclusion. After all, the Jays have helplessly watched big name after big name join other organizations via trade or free agency during the past couple of months. So Juan Soto? No way. Corbin Burnes? No chance. Devin Williams? Nada. Not even old buddy Teoscar Hernández. All the Jays have to show for thus far this offseason are Yimi García, Andrés Giménez, Nick Sandlin along with a few depth pickups. 

How about addressing their specific needs for their roster for the upcoming 2025 season? Have the Jays completed their overhaul for their bullpen, get their outfield upgrade, or even found a power bat to inject some offense into the lineup? As one could see, with many question marks still unanswered, a lot of work is left to be done.

On top of that, Toronto has failed so far in locking up their stars Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to extensions with their impending free agency approaching at the end of this year. Added to the fact that the Jays have an “uninspiring farm system”, as Passan adamantly pointed out, it has potentially created an unattractive situation for top free agents to come to the city, as they likely have took notice of it. So even with the incredible city that Toronto is, along with the Jays’ willingness to spend big to address their needs, they could still be facing a big challenge in getting potential difference makers to join the franchise if they don’t clearly lay out their winning plan going forward.

Nevertheless, despite all the pessimism, Passan believes (and we should too) that there is still hope for the Jays and that they can salvage this offseason if they can manage to land foundational players such as Alex Bregman, Anthony Santander and Tanner Scott in the end. Especially the fact that if they are still willing to give out the money, someone will eventually be bound to take it. Until something drastic actually happens, we could be heading towards a second consecutive season of disappointment and despair.

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