4 positions the Blue Jays need to invest in during free agency

3. Relief pitching

With the bullpen being one of the Jays’ strengths in 2023, they could potentially lose up to three key members to free agency at the end of the season. It is highly likely that the Jays will pick up the option with Green, since they invested in a two-year deal with him in the first place with full knowledge that he would be out for most of 2023, so they are not going to give up on him after just one month of regular season action. On the other hand, both Hicks and García would be question marks on whether or not they will return to the ballclub.

The Jays do have potential internal solutions with Bowden Francis having a fine year so far with the big league club, along with others like Nate Pearson and Jay Jackson. But time and time again, a strong bullpen has proven to be a key ingredient for any playoff contender. So the Jays shouldn’t shy away from trying to grab a dominant reliever or two from the free agent market.

Among the available relievers, obviously Josh Hader, Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel and David Robertson head the strong free agent class entering this offseason, along with solid effective options in José Alvarado and Matt Moore. If Hicks doesn’t end up staying with the Jays, pursuing one of the closer-type pitchers would give them the adequate replacement. If García is the one leaving, then Alvarado or Moore would be ideal candidates to fill his role. Most importantly, if the Jays wish to invest in multiple positional upgrades, they should probably stay away from Hader. That is because as one of the top relievers in the game right now, he is most likely to create a bidding war among teams.