The Toronto Blue Jays did very well last winter, grabbing Dylan Cease, Tyler Rogers, and Kazuma Okamoto in free agency. Okamoto led the team in home runs, Rogers was dominant once more, and Cease was among the top two starters in the AL during the 2026 season. But despite all that, the Jays bottomed out in 2026, and it’s not hard to see why. Now, how can the Jays course correct?
Biggest needs for Blue Jays
Power bats, which is not a shock when taking into account what happened in Toronto during the 2026 campaign.
During the Blue Jays’ AL-pennant-winning season in 2025, the Blue Jays had the third-highest team OPS and finished fourth in runs scored. This past year, Toronto’s offense had the fewest home runs (152) and runs scored (648) during the regular season. Additionally, the Blue Jays’ team on-base percentage of .310 ranked 25th in the league.
Obviously, that would indicate that some outside help would be a good idea. But it’s not so simple.
For one, the Blue Jays had quite a few underperformers. Most notably, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who had two home run droughts that spanned roughly a month in May and June. He finished the year with a paltry nine home runs.
There were some injury questions for Vlad: he underwent laser eye surgery in October for vision correction. He also dealt with some back problems. And if the Blue Jays want to get back to the playoffs, he will need to get right.
But that doesn’t negate the need for a power hitter, particularly one who can slot in as a corner outfielder. George Springer, a primary designated hitter in 2026, is a free agent, which could open up the door for the Blue Jays to get creative with the lineup construction. Perhaps Anthony Santander can return to form as a DH. Sean Keys could get in some work and fill the void left behind.
However, the likes of Randy Arozarena and Seiya Suzuki, should the Blue Jays want to add more payroll, would make a lot of sense here. After all, you can only have so many pure contact hitters, and clubs like the Brewers and Rays offer good examples of how to build a team that doesn’t necessarily have a ton of pop.
Aside from a power hitter, grabbing a back-end starter with the losses of Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber would make sense here, too.
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