The Blue Jays are very close to winning it all in 2025, and all signs point to them being aggressively reloading for 2026. Judging from the general manager meeting in Las Vegas, Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet and Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reported that all signs point to the Blue Jays being heavily involved in a variety of markets, including starting pitchers, relievers and position players.
This is not surprising. The Jays have been one of the most active clubs in recent winters, including Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and others. Although they missed out on those guys, they have signed seven different free agents over the past five years to contracts lasting at least three years. those are George Springer, Anthony Santander, Kevin Gausman, Ariel Rodriguez, Jeff Hoffman, Kikuchi Yusen and Chris Bassett. They just made the playoffs, which could boost some money and potentially reinvest some of it back into the roster.
Adding to the bullpen would be a logical move as Toronto’s relievers have been middling this year. The club’s relievers have a combined 3.98 ERA, which ranks 16th among 30 major league teams. they added Serantoni Dominguez and Louis Wallander before the deadline, but Dominguez is now a free agent. Closer Hoffman has a 4.37 ERA and could be open to a starting role.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the Jayhawks and Dodgers are two clubs expected to pursue Pete FairbanksHe had just become a free agent when the Rays declined his player option. Even though the Dodgers just won a championship, their bullpen has been falling apart all year. Head coach Dave Roberts has relied heavily on his starters throughout the postseason, including using Ohtani’s entire roster, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto In Game 7 of the World Series.
Fairbanks would make sense for a lot of clubs, but the Dodgers and Jayhawks are certainly two of them. He spent the past three years as a closer in Tampa, saving at least 23 games each season. His ERA has been below 3.58 every season, including 2.83 in 2025.
However, there are some yellow flags in Fairbanks. Injuries have been a big part of his career. 2025 was the first time he reached a consistent level of 50 innings in a season. While he continues to produce well in the ERA department, other numbers aren’t as encouraging. He struck out 39.1% of batters in 2022 and 2023, but in the last two seasons, his strikeout rate dropped to 24%. His velocity is also down two notches, with his fastball sitting around 99 mph in 2022-23 but has been closer to 97 mph since then.
Teams should still be interested in Fairbanks, but his decline may have impacted his market. The Rays have an $11MM club option and a $1MM buyout, netting a $10MM decision. They may have tried trading for Fairbanks before rejecting it, but didn’t see much interest. Teams are generally wary of committing money so early in the offseason, but if someone feels like it’s a good deal, they’ll jump ship.
He could land a one-year deal around that option price, but a multi-year deal with similar annual value is also possible. The Dodgers and Jayhawks and just about every other club can easily afford it.
But Fairbanks is just one of dozens of options on the relief market. Bannon mentioned Phil Marton and Tyler Kinley Fit as closely as possible in a seemingly speculative way. Maton had been doing well for years, but the market wasn’t rewarding him, presumably because his bikes could barely go over 90 mph. His last two free-agent outings were on modest one-year deals. He earned $6.5MM from the Rays entering 2024 and $2MM from the Cardinals last winter.
Dating back to the start of 2022, Mayton has pitched 257 innings with a 3.33 ERA, 27% strikeout rate, 9% walk rate, and 43% ground ball rate. He’s even better in 2025, with a 2.79 ERA, 32.7% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate, and 44.4% ground ball rate. He’s typically one of the best pitchers in the league when it comes to minimizing hard contracts, and that remains the case this year. According to Statcast, his average release velocity, field goal percentage and slugging percentage are all at least within the 98th percentile of pitchers. That strong season should earn him a raise, but the market has written off him twice, so he shouldn’t break the bank.
Kinley pitched with the Rockies for most of his career, so he has some significant ERA on his record. However, his performance in 2025 remains strong. Atlanta acquired him at the deadline, and Kinley left Coors Field with a 0.72 ERA in 25 innings. Despite his luck, his 23.4% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate are both good numbers. Despite this, Atlanta declined the $5.5 club option in favor of a $750,000 buyout. If that’s any indication of what the market thinks of him, he should be very affordable for the Jays or any club.
When it comes to the rotation, general manager Ross Atkins has said starting pitching will be a target. There are plenty of ways to do that, and Bannon reports the Jayhawks are pursuing players at the top of the market.
As Bannon mentioned, the best free agent starters are guys like this Dylan Seth, Framber Valdez, rangers suarez and Imai Tatsuya. MLBTR projects that each of these four will receive at least five-year deals with at least $115MM guaranteed. The Jays have hit this range before with pitchers, as their aforementioned Gausman contract was for five years and $110. Depending on the market for those pitchers, acquiring one may require a further effort. MLBTR predicts Cease will earn $189MM over 7 years, while Valdez and Imai are each projected to earn $150MM, with Valdez over 5 years and Imai over 6 years.
When Jays receives a gift Sean Bieber Decided not to back out of his deal. He’s taking a $16 million salary in 2026, and instead of the $4 million buyout, he’s actually taking $12 million while giving up the opportunity to head to free agency for more money. That leaves the Jays with a rotation core of Gausman, Bieber and Trey Yesavich. they should have Jose Berrios Somewhere in the back, as he’s expected to be healthy next year.
guys like Eric Lauer, bowden francis, Ricky Tiedemann, Adam Marko, Lazaro Estrada Others could compete for that last spot, but the club would be in a better position if they brought in someone else. If everyone is healthy, Lauer could move up to No. 6 and take on a long-term backup role while the others can play in 3A. Signing someone after 2026 also makes sense, since Gausman and Bieber will be free agents a year later and Berrios will have the option to opt out by then.
A general strike among position players is also an option. bring back Beau Bichette As we all know, this is on the table. Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported this week that Bichette is receiving a lot of interest as a shortstop, but there are also some clubs that need help at second and third base. Bichette has never been a strong defensive player at shortstop, and he has dealt with numerous lower-body injuries in recent years. In 2025, he played second base for the Blue Jays in the World Series after missing several weeks with a knee injury.
It’s unclear whether Bichette will have a strong preference for his defensive home or if he’s just trying to get the biggest payday. For the Blue Jays, they might prefer to keep Andres Jimenez Simply put, because he’s a crafty defender, but there’s no telling if they’d be willing to put Bichette back in that position to lure him back to Toronto.
There is also a little smoke when running Kyle Tucker. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale mentioned the possibility several times in a column earlier this week. Bannon and the Nicholson-Smith/Davidi column both addressed Tucker rumors, but both said pitching may be a bigger priority.
The Jays could certainly pursue Tucker, although he would likely be quite pricey. MLBTR projects he could earn $400 guaranteed in 11 years. As mentioned above, the Jayhawks have had strong performances from players above the stratosphere before, and they gave Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 500MM extension cord.
The current outfield combination includes Springer, Santander; Dalton Washoe, Nathan Lukes, Miles Straw, Joey Lopez Fido, Addison Barger and Davis Schneider. They don’t need Tucker, but he will make the team stronger. Loperfido still has options, while Barger and Schneider can play the infield. Springer, Varshaw and Straw will all become free agents after 2026. Straw’s contract includes club options for 2027 and 2028, but may be a bit pricey for a backup outfielder like him. By 2027, those three players could be gone, leaving Santander with the designated hitter spot. Maybe boys like it About Hendrick Pinango or RJ Schreck At that point, Tucker will likely emerge and fill the void, but Tucker would give the Blue Jays more long-term certainty on grass/turf.
At this point in the offseason, the Blue Jays still have a lot to go. Nicholson-Smith and Davidi’s report describes them as ubiquitous but not desperate, so it might be unwise to expect their aggression to lead to a quick deal. They may slow down and look for opportunities to open to them, depending on how individual markets develop.
One unknown factor is how much they will cost. RosterResource projects their 2026 payroll to be $235 million, compared to a payroll of $258 million at the end of 2025, giving them more than $20 million in wiggle room. President Mark Shapiro said he doesn’t expect payroll to drop next year. Approximately $20MM isn’t enough to accomplish everything mentioned here, but a deep playoff run in 2025 could prompt the Jays to raise payroll a bit.
Photos courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
