4 areas where the Blue Jays need to invest the most in this winter

After a less-than-stellar 2024 season for the Toronto Blue Jays, there will be plenty of work to do this offseason to get them back to their winning ways. Their main goal will be to retool properly and field a competitive team for 2025. In order to do so, there are multiple positions from their roster that needs to be addressed.

As a result, here we will examine four areas that the Jays will need to invest in this winter for the team to have success once again going forward.

Catcher

What was once a position of strength for the Jays just not too long ago has now suddenly become a weakness as we reach the conclusion of the 2024 season. Just two years ago, the Jays was backed by the strong tandem of Danny Jansen and former All-Star and Silver Slugger Alejandro Kirk at the catcher’s position. Not only that, they also had the game’s No. 1 prospect at the time in Gabriel Moreno coming up the ranks. Consequently, the team appeared to be pretty much set in the position for a long time. 

Now, two major trades later resulting in the departures of Jansen and Moreno, the Jays are now left with only Kirk with no serviceable backup or tandem catcher in sight. Brian Serven had his opportunity to solidify his spot on the team following the trade of Jansen. However, Serven failed in his audition both offensively and defensively, as he hit .159 and produced only 3 RBI over 28 games while allowing 3 passed balls, 4 wild pitches and an 88% stealing success rate. If we dug deeper to take a look at what’s available from their pipeline, there isn’t a single catching prospect to be found among the Jays’ top 30 prospects list.

As a result, this becomes once aspect that they will need to seriously address in the coming months. In terms of the free agent market, there are a couple of intriguing options in Elias Díaz and Jacob Stallings. If the Jays were interested in a potential reunion, Travis d’Arnaud and even Jansen are available. The biggest name in the market is veteran Yasmani Grandal. He is likely past his best before date, but he would bring some valuable experience to the club. However, with the quality of the pickings being quite slim, the Jays may ultimately need to utilize the waiver wire or the trade route to get the job done.

Back-End Rotation Depth

Heading into the 2025 season, the bulk of the spots in the Jays’ starting rotation appears pretty much set. Barring any unexpected trades, Kevin Gausman, José Berríos and Chris Bassitt will be back to anchor the front end of the pitching staff. One could also argue that with the breakout second half performance by Bowden Francis, he has also already locked up a fourth spot in the starting five.

Yariel Rodríguez will be back next season, with Alek Manoah also a possibility in the latter half of 2025 to compete for the final rotation slot. Both had shown signs of success in the role in 2024, but both also had their run into injuries along the way. In particular for Manoah, he even had to undergo season-ending hybrid Tommy John surgery to repair his UCL. On top of that, many of the Jays’ starting pitching prospects in their minor league system were also decimated by injuries, including top pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann.

Therefore, the Jays really need to invest in an arm or two to add valuable starting pitching depth to the organization this winter. That is because based on what has transpired the past couple of years, they will likely end up needing it badly. Jack Flaherty, Nick Pivetta, Luis Severino and their old buddy Yusei Kikuchi are solid back end of the rotation options that could be found in this year’s free agency. If some decide to get out of their options, Sean Manaea and Michael Wacha would become viable options as well. However, if the Jays want to aim big and go for a big fish to head the rotation while pushing the rest back a rung, then we may be talking about adding a Corbin Burnes, Shane Bieber, Max Fried, or even the improbable Gerrit Cole if he ends up opting out.

Bullpen (again and again and again)

Without a question the greatest weakness of the Jays from the 2024 season had been the abysmal performance of their bullpen. Their relief corps currently rank near the bottom of league across various major pitching categories including ERA (4.76 - 28th), WHIP (1.33 - 22nd), strikeouts (485 - 29th) and home runs given up (89 - 30th).

The usually-reliable studs in Jordan Romano, Erik Swanson, Tim Mayza and Trevor Richards all had seasons worth forgetting, while the bulk of the rest of the group had endured some on-and-off struggles over the course of the season. Even the infallible Chad Green has also been shaky in recent weeks, with practically only deadline acquisition Ryan Yarbrough being the most dependable arm out of the bullpen right now. As a result, the Jays will need big bounce back seasons from their main core, along with undergoing a huge makeover for the remaining relief corps pieces to bring them back to respectable levels.

Fortunately, this year’s free agent market is loaded with relievers, including some bonafide closers. With the uncertainty of Romano’s rebound next season, added to Green’s recent struggles, it would be wise for the Jays to invest in relief options that are capable of closing games if needed. Among some of the top options include Paul Sewald and Carlos Estévez. Veterans Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman and Craig Kimbrel are also available, but their steady decline in recent years no longer make them as reliable. Other solid relief options that could perform well in high leverage situations include Tanner Scott and Brent Suter.

However, if the Jays wanted to take a flyer on a proven veteran, Kirby Yates would fit the bill. Despite being aged 37, Yates put together his best season since 2019 by going 7-2 with 31 saves, along with an outstanding 1.21 ERA, 0.84 WHIP with a whopping 84 strikeouts in just 59.2 innings pitched in 59 appearances with the Texas Rangers this year. His first go-around with the Jays didn’t go well when his season ended before it started with Tommy John surgery back in 2021. Perhaps a second chance with the club would work wonders this time around.