5 players who are entering their final days on the Blue Jays

It's been a long, long year for the Toronto Blue Jays and at this point, it's all about seeing what the young kids have got and getting ready to bounce back next year.

After Wednesday's loss to the Phillies, the Blue Jays are 67-74, 14.5 games out of first place in the AL East and 8.5 games out of the Wild Card race. They pulled within a hair of at least reaching .500 but a three-game losing streak took the wind out of their sails.

Armed with one of the very worst bullpens in the game, the Jays have their work cut out for them in the upcoming offseason. There's a lot of work to do on this roster, especially if their desire to return to contention in 2025 is to be viewed with any legitimacy.

We've seen a ton of roster turnover as the year has gone on, but there are still some players who are holding down a roster spot that may not be around once the offseason comes. We're going to look at five players whose time on the Blue Jays is coming to an end. In most instances, it's a matter of the Jays needing to find better usage of each player's roster spot if they want to contend next year.

Let's get into it.

5 Blue Jays whose time on the team is coming to an end

Ryan Burr

Originally acquired by the Blue Jays in a minor trade with the Phillies, Burr has become one of John Schneider's more oft-used relievers out of a bullpen that's struggled mightily. He started off his tenure on the Jays on a strong note, but his second-half numbers are hard to ignore.

A decent June was followed up by a so-so July, a much worse August and now the month of September is not exactly getting off to the right start for the right-hander. In 10 August appearances, he had a 5.19 ERA in 8.2 innings of work (five earned on 10 hits) and his first two outings this month have resulted in a 6.75 ERA across a small sample size of work.

At the end of the day, Burr has never been anything more than an innings eater for the Blue Jays, much like someone like Wes Parsons was at the tail end of last year and the beginning of the current one. With the Jays bullpen having such a hard time getting outs with any sort of consistency, it's not hard to see Burr being one of the first to be moved on from.

In his case specifically, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Blue Jays let him go before the season ends; opting to give a look to a younger player who is deserving of some experience at the big league level.

Zach Pop

Pop is somebody that we've touched on before it pieces like this one. It's getting to the point where you have to wonder what kind of dirt he has on someone in the Blue Jays front office. It feels like every time he takes the mound, bad things come.

In 66 appearances across the past two years, Pop has a combined 6.16 ERA, 5.60 FIP and 68 ERA+ in 57 innings of work. He doesn't strike many batters out, he can't keep the ball in the ballpark and walks bite him on occasion as well.

Outside of a decent 13-game stretch in the month of May, Pop has been borderline unwatchable in every single month of the season so far. His June ERA was 6.97 in 14 games; July's EA was 6.30 in 11 games; August's ERA was 7.27 in 10 games and he's currently got an 18.00 ERA in two September games.

Of course, ERA is not the quite the tell-all stat like followers of the game used to think it was, but in Pop's case it's a darn good indicator of the player we're working with here. He seems to do okay in short stints, but even in those instances, it's touch and go.

It was clear to see why the Blue Jays gave Pop another look last year after he looked so strong post-trade in the 2022 season. He had a 3.11 FIP in 17 outings after coming over from the Marlins and appeared to be a reliable relief option in the making. Instead, he's just gone into a full-blown meltdown that doesn't seem to have an end in sight. The Jays need to give up on the experiment and cut their losses before this gets any more embarrassing for all involved.

In the immediate future, Pop is going to become arbitration-eligible for the first time in his career. A non-tender seems like the most likely outcome.

Bo Bichette

Bichette hasn't appeared in a game since July 19 as he nurses yet another calf injury. The two-time All-Star was in the midst of easily his worst season as a professional before being sidelined. In 80 games, he had just four home runs, a .222 batting average and .595 OPS.

His OPS+ had also dipped all the way down to 69, which suggests he had been 31 percent below league-average at the plate. This is quite the fall-off for a player who had led the AL in hits in two of the previous three seasons.

Outside of the overall underperformance of this club, one of the biggest storylines on the Blue Jays this year has been whether they'll trade or extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bichette. Guerrero's re-emergence as an MVP-caliber talent has removed him from the "trade bait" category and put him firmly in "franchise cornerstone" territory.

Bichette, on the other hand, has seen himself go the opposite direction. With a massive group of middle infield-types set to compete for playing time next year, it's possible that the only player to have earned MVP votes out of the bunch is the one that gets moved.

In the months prior to his injury, Bichette had seemed uninterested and lethargic on the diamond. It might be because of the trade rumors, he might've been unhappy to have been playing for a losing team, and he could very well just have been checking out. The industry-wide speculation has been all over the place since right around the trade deadline, but all signs are pointing to the Jays at least being open to a move in the offseason.

This is not the first time I've discussed such a thing, and it won't be the last. MLB Network's Mark Feinsand penned an interesting piece that consisted of him polling executives around the league on the direction of the Blue Jays and their superstars. Here is one of the most noteworthy quotes:

“I sense there is interest on their part to move Bichette,” an AL executive said. “Buying a guy out of his arb years and not extending him further sends a message that either he or they have concern past the six years they have him.”

Touche.

Erik Swanson

Full disclosure: it's not Swanson's fault that the results haven't been there for him this year. With a spring training that was cut short due to a serious accident involving his son, Swanson's head was nowhere near 'in the game' as the season got underway, which clearly led to a lapse in his mound performance.

However, he's going to fall into a similar category as Ryan Burr did above. The Blue Jays bullpen has literally been one of the very worst in all of baseball this year, and there's no reason they shouldn't move on from anyone who struggled and replace them on the free agent market. Swanson falls into that group despite the fact that he was one of the more reliable weapons in the 'pen last year.

Again, the Blue Jays simply cannot afford to keep a player like Swanson around if he's struggling so badly to regain his footing. He already had a(n unsuccessful) stint down in the minor leagues and things certainly did not get turned around. Instead, he was rushed back to the big leagues before he was ready for such a move.

In 34 outings this year, the 34-year-old has a 6.52 ERA, 7.39 FIP and 63 ERA+ in 29 innings. He's seen his strikeouts plummet, his walks raise at an alarming rate and his HR/9 spike by two full home runs. Looking at second-half performance alone, his 3.77 ERA is much better but his 6.81 FIP and 4.45 SIERA tell a story of luck rather than an improvement in his game.