5 moves the Blue Jays must make immediately after missing out on Shohei Ohtani

Sign Matt Chapman

The necessary signing of third baseman Matt Chapman has suddenly become a no-brainer after the events that have taken place in recent days. The Jays saw their divisional rivals New York Yankees land big names Alex Verdugo and more notably Juan Soto in just a matter of days to instantly transform them back into strong legitimate contenders again. More importantly, the Jays were seriously interested in acquiring the services of Soto as well, but lost out. To add insult to injury, they now had to suffer the devastating news of Ohtani signing elsewhere despite being a serious finalist for his services. As a result, the Jays must do something big right now to bring back hope and excitement to the city and the organization as a whole.

With third base being a top priority of the ballclub this offseason, it should be the first area they should address right now. In particular, with the free agent pool for third baseman relatively thin already, the potentially second-best option in Jeimer Candelario was recently signed by the Cincinnati Reds. For those that remain in the free agent market, they are all not likely to move the needle nor be a difference maker for the Jays, other than the best option that remains in Chapman.

Despite his struggles for the majority of the 2023 season, Chapman has still proven to be one of the best power hitters in all of baseball when he is on his game. Not to mention he is perhaps the top defender in MLB at the hot corner. With the ability to score 70-100 runs and put up 25-30 home runs and 75-90 RBI per season, along with a career .973 fielding percentage and 94 DRS at third base, there isn’t anyone whether by trade or currently waiting in the Jays’ minor league system that can guarantee that type of production on a yearly basis right at this moment. More importantly, being one of the fan favourites in the past couple of seasons, bringing back Chapman provides the perfect antidote to help instil confidence once again in the ballclub that harshly struck out twice in the past week.