The Jays have finished behind other teams in the battles for top free agents over the last few years, but Buster Olney thinks the Jays will strike big this offseason.
Over the last few offseasons, the Toronto Blue Jays have mostly finished behind other teams when it comes to pursuing big free agents.
The Jays have missed out on Shohei Ohtani, Max Fried, Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Juan Soto, and while they were able to secure Jeff Hoffman and Anthony Santander before the 2025 campaign, missing out on top players has been a real talking point.
However, after a trip to the World Series this past season, the narrative on the Jays could be changing. They've already been linked to top free agents like Bo Bichette, Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, and they are expected to be in the market for high-end bullpen help as well.
Speaking on our sister 'Mariners Roundtable' podcast on Thursday, ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney had this to say about the Jays:
I think the perception of the Blue Jays has changed dramatically. You and I know that when Shohei Ohtani was a free agent, the Blue Jays were courting him, there was no chance he was going to sign with the Blue Jays. When Juan Soto was a free agent and the Blue Jays met with him, there was no chance he was going to sign there. They were just the team that was willing to offer a lot of money...I think the fact that they reached the World Series and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. demonstrated that he is a preeminent leader, I think absolutely is going to change their opportunities in the marketplace where players are going to take a different look at that franchise and that team...
That's certainly a good sign for the Jays, who showed how great a place to play Toronto is all October long.
What are the needs?
Needs and wants are two different things. The Jays likely have the ability to court any one they want at this point (to Olney's point), but the list of needs is a bit more specific.
They need another starting pitcher at the moment. Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Jose Berrios and Shane Bieber figure to be in the rotation, and youngster Ricky Tiedemann could factor in, as could Bowden Francis.
But if they don't want either of those options, they could look at bringing back Chris Bassitt or Max Scherzer, or someone else from the outside.
They also do need an infielder, and perhaps that's as simple as bringing back Bichette. They could use a left-handed bat for the middle of the order as well, though Addison Barger did a nice job of filling that role in the offseason.
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