4 changes the Blue Jays must make immediately after 2024 debacle

Sacrifice defense for some offense

It wasn’t just too long ago that the Jays were one of the top offensive teams in the league. In fact, just two years ago, Toronto ranked in the top five in MLB across the bulk of the major offensive stat categories. However, with their defense severely lacking at the time, the team moved towards the mentality of upgrading their defense by sacrificing some offense in the process.

In doing so, the Jays ultimately moved away from power-producing hitters such as Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernández and Brandon Belt in favour of more defensively-minded pieces such as Kevin Kiermaier, Daulton Varsho and more recently Isiah Kiner-Falefa. So what result has that approach brought to the club? Two straight seasons with a declining winning record along with a huge struggle to score runs in the process. This season, the Jays actually ranked near the bottom third of the league across many offensive categories. In addition, with their inability to generate runs, they ranked second-last only to the lowly Chicago White Sox in come-from-behind wins with only 25 all season. So basically if they ever fell behind in a game, it was a tall task for them to pull off a win in the end.

As a result, the Jays need to ditch that approach now and revert back to the offense-first mentality. In other words, their focus this offseason should be to bolster their offence once again at the expense of some of their solid defense. It has become evident now that the team had much more success previously in that setup and also provided some much more exciting baseball in the process. Therefore, when the Jays are set to explore options in free agency coming up, they should focus on offense, offense and more offense.

Complete bullpen overhaul is a must

Going into the 2024 season, one of the things that the Jays had the least worries about was the state of their bullpen. Led by closer Jordan Romano and company, Toronto’s relief corps actually ranked among the league’s best in 2023, sitting third in saves, fourth in losses and WHIP, eighth in ERA, and 11th in opponents batting average. With the bulk of the bullpen core remaining intact for this year, the Jays were expecting more of the same from their competent group.

Unfortunately, 2024 turned out to be a complete disaster for practically the entire unit. Befell by injuries and inconsistency, the Jays’ bullpen ultimately became their weakest link over the course of the season. The usually dependable and trusted arms in Romano, Erik Swanson, Trevor Richards, Tim Mayza and even Chad Green later in the season all fell apart, while returnees Nate Pearson, Zach Pop and Genesis Cabrera to some extent didn’t help the cause either. On top of that, when the Jays needed bullpen reinforcements along the way, the makeshift replacements didn’t fare any better. The lone bright spots were perhaps just Yimi García, who was traded at the deadline, and Ryan Yarbrough, who now heads into free agency.

As a result, a massive overhaul of the Jays’ bullpen is an absolute necessity in order to get them back on track. That is because there’s no guarantee that Romano, Swanson, Green and those that remain will regain their prior dominant form for 2025. In addition, having an abundance of pitching depth will be key, as we all witnessed their immense struggles this past season whenever the Jays needed more arms. This drastic change should start the moment free agency season commences, with plenty of viable options available this offseason in the market to help solve their problems.

Sign Vladdy to an extension and make him the face of the franchise

For a while, there was a strong debate as to who was the face of the Jays’ franchise. Was it Bichette or Vladimir Guerrero Jr.? After all, Guerrero displayed a gradual decline in his overall numbers since his MVP-calibre season in 2021, whereas Bichette had been a consistent top hitter in the league throughout that same time. In doing so, it appeared as though that honour was tilting in favour of Bichette. Consequently, many felt that the Jays should focus on discussing an extension with the star shortstop as their priority.

However, a tumultuous 2024 season for both Bichette and Guerrero has significantly altered the landscape in Jays’ land. Bichette had perhaps his worst ever season in his MLB career, posting an abysmal .225 average, .598 OPS, with 29 runs scored, 4 home runs and 31 RBI in 81 games played. He was also plagued by injuries over the course of the season, which may have played a role in his underwhelming performance. 

On the other hand, after struggling mightily in the first month of 2024, Guerrero bounced back in a huge way for the rest of the season, often carrying the team on his shoulders in the process. In the end, he performed once again as the superstar that many were expecting of him, compiling a strong .323 average, .940 OPS, 98 runs scored, 44 doubles, 30 home runs, 103 RBI while falling just one hit short of 200 on the season. There was no doubt that prime Vladdy was back.

With Bichette being surrounded by trade talks and rumors of potentially moving on from the club throughout the summer, Guerrero had adamantlyreconfirmed that he wanted to stay and win with the Jays. As a result, the Jays must act now and make Guerrero the priority for a long-term extension instead of Bichette if their goal is to win. On top of that, for someone as determined and dedicated to the organization as Guerrero, Jays’ management should annoint him the face of the franchise going forward for good to help lead the team to success.