This offseason will be very important, and very interesting, for the Toronto Blue Jays - on multiple fronts.

On one hand, the Blue Jays are a team coming off a 79-83 season and a last-place finish in the American League East. Seemingly, they have many needs that need to be filled before the 2027 season. However, because of the likely lockout looming, there won't be as much time as usual to fill them. That could force Toronto to rely more on bounce back years from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Addison Barger and Anthony Santander.

So, let's take a look at the situation facing the Blue Jays.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement between the MLB Players Association and its owners runs out on Dec. 1 at 11:59 p.m. ET. If a new CBA is not struck by then, then the owners will lock the players out.

That means that all baseball business will stop, no moves can be made and no communication can't happen between players and club officials, even medical ones. The sport will truly enter a freeze and nothing will happen until a new CBA is ratified.

The new league year effectively starts five days after the World Series ends. So, depending on when it ends, there will be about one month for teams to engage in business. When the new CBA is ratified, there will be a flood of business, so there will be a lot of things happening very quickly. The Blue Jays won't have as much time to be very calculated.

At the crux of the CBA arguments is whether or not baseball will have a salary cap moving forward. The owners want one, the players don't, and that's the biggest looming fight.

Toronto is currently one of the top spending teams in baseball. If the league adopts a salary cap, there will likely be a "phasing-in" period to get into compliance, but regardless, a salary cap would cause the Blue Jays to curb their spending habits.

If there's no cap, then there's no reason to do that.

Well, in the one month period before the lockout, the Blue Jays will have decisions to make. Do they try to make moves and then just see what's needed on the other side? Or, do they wait to see the financial landscape and then engage in the battle of free agent musical chairs with everyone else?

Personally, I think Toronto has no choice really but to wait. I think both players and teams will want to wait and see the new world on the other side of the CBA. As a result, I think November will be a pretty slow month for free agent transactions, Blue Jays included.

The exception will be for Japanese star Teruaki Sato, who faces a signing deadline. The Blue Jays are said to be interested in him, so he's the one that could force their hands.