Ranking the Blue Jays pending free agents by likelihood of them re-signing

3. Jordan Hicks

One of the Jays’ biggest trade deadline acquisitions this year, Jordan Hicks has been everything the Jays needed him to be so far during his short tenure with the ballclub. Equipped with a lightning quick fastball that could hit triple digits consistently, Hicks has shown time and time again to constantly overpower opposing hitters with authority.

Since joining the Jays at the end of July, Hicks has posted a 2-2 record with four saves and seven holds, along with a career-best 2.14 ERA, 0.952 WHIP, giving up only five earned runs with five walks and 20 strikeouts over 21 innings of work in 23 appearances. In recent games, he seems to be becoming more and more like former dominant Jays reliever Duane Ward, doing his part in setting up the closer with zeroes across the board.

Hicks has certainly turned his fortunes around since leaving the struggling St. Louis Cardinals to join the Jays in their playoff run. In doing so, he has also raised his stock considerably heading into free agency as a result. Obviously, the Jays would definitely want to retain someone with the firepower of Hicks to help anchor their bullpen along with Jordan Romano in the coming years. However, with a previous contract that had an AAV of less than a million over five seasons in the big leagues, Hicks will definitely be looking for a big pay raise for 2024. If the amount is still within good range for the Jays, he will for sure be back. But if it gets blown up to epic proportions, with plenty of quality relievers available this offseason, the Jays can resort to a more affordable option in the free agent market. It basically comes down to this, the more success he has in helping the Jays make the playoffs and during the actual playoffs itself, the more likely he will just end up as a rental in the end.

Verdict: Likely he re-signs.