Toronto Blue Jays fans have been waiting for Roki Sasaki to decide where he would sign for the past week. The wait is finally over, as Sasaki signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday afternoon. The move comes as a shock to absolutely no one, as it had been rumored that LA was his preferred spot since he was first posted.
Now that Sasaki has signed with a team, there will surely be plenty of moves to come in the next week or two by the teams that missed out on him. The Dodgers also added stud reliever Tanner Scott on Sunday as they continue to build a super team. There was also word about who the New York Mets might go after now that a Pete Alonso reunion seems unlikely, opening the door for him to sign north of the border. Now that the first domino has fallen, let’s look at what could be next for the team north of the border.
What’s Next for the Blue Jays?
Toronto Free Agency Struggle
It’s been no secret that free agents are not big on signing with the Blue Jays over the past few seasons. The most notable was last year when Shohei Ohtani was believed to be seriously considering heading north of the border before eventually landing with the Dodgers. The same can be said this year after missing out again on the Dodgers as their top target of the offseason. With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. entering a contract year, the pressure is on the Toronto front office to make some impactful moves to either convince him to stay or to have if he bolts.
The Blue Jays made their first big move on Monday, signing free-agent outfielder Anthony Santander, who is coming off the best season of his career in 2024. Santander played in 155 games for the Baltimore Orioles, hitting .235 but slugging 44 home runs (a career-high) while finishing the year with 102 runs batted in (also a career-high). The numbers earned the 29-year-old his first All-Star appearance and a Silver Slugger Award, finishing 14th in AL MVP voting.
Santander’s deal with Toronto is a five-year, $92.5 million deal that includes an opt-out clause and an escalated team option provision that can make the deal go as high as six years for $110 million.
Pay for Pete?
Alonso has been linked to Toronto after failing to come to terms with the Mets on a new deal thus far. If Alonso wants to sign with the Blue Jays, that would open the door to trading Guerrero and getting a good amount for him in the coming weeks. The other side of the spectrum would be to move him back to third and have Alonso at first, making for a very scary heart of their order.
Guerrero hasn’t played much third base since his rookie season; however, the option for him to play some games there and then play him at first base when Alonso is the Designated Hitter would not be the worst of ideas for a team trying to become relevant again.
Starting Pitching Still a Priority
While Toronto has four solid starters in its rotation going into 2025 (Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, and Bowden Francis), the team is still searching for starting pitching even after missing out on Sasaki. Jack Flaherty is currently seen as the most coveted pitcher on the market, but a new name has surfaced as a potential target that can be had on a short-term deal. Ben Nicholson-Smith reported late Sunday night that Max Scherzer has shifted into focus now that Sasaki is off the table. The main issue with the future Hall of Famer has been his inability to stay healthy over the past two seasons.
When healthy, however, Scherzer still shows glimpses of the pitcher he once was, even at 40 years old. In nine starts last season, he was 2-4 but had a 3.95 earned run average, only allowing 19 earned runs in the games he started. With the rotation looking solid to begin with, “Mad Max” does not need to be the team’s Ace. If he can stay healthy, he would be a solid arm to slide into the middle of that rotation, and while it may not lessen the sting of losing out on Sasaki, it helps Toronto piece together a solid rotation that can make a run in 2025.
Main Image: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
